Nothing Is The Same Now
by MiR23
Summary: Vieze meets Ikori. Simple as that.


"Hurry up, everybody!" Mr. Archer bellowed as he stood at the door to the Realm of Doom. Chemistry. Wild shouts and rapid footsteps bustled through the hallway. I raised my head to assess my surroundings. The room was completely uninspiring to any type of learning. Only half the class was accounted for. I didn't see how anyone could possibly even hear the tardy bell in the first place. But what did I care, I'd already made it to Hell. Damn, the light from the only window in the room shined brighter than any future; my eyes began to burn. I lowered my head and wrap my arms around me. My head stung a bit. Migraine, maybe?

"I said 'Hurry up', chickies! Time's a wastin'! Is this any way to start off the school year?!" I felt someone nudge my side, followed by the sound of a chair moving. The faint scent of strawberries registered. My best friend sat down next to me with a thud followed by an even louder thud: Her books. She let out a big sigh. "Phew, I can't believe how many stairs there are here! Every year, it seems like the quantity just SKYROCKETS out of the stratus sphere!" As she leaned her body up against mine, the scent grew stronger. She poked me in my rib cage. "Hey, Vieze. What's the matter? Why are you so down? Don't tell me you stayed up all night playing video games again!" She scorned.

"Nnnng... –me alone." I muttered. I tried to shrug from beneath her weight. It's way too early to deal with her optimism.

She pressed her body closer. "Vieze, I didn't quite hear that." I could feel her press her ear up against my elbow. "You really need to speak up, hon."

I groaned and gave up. Slowly, I turned my head to my right; my attention is immediately piqued.

Nucaria Yayoi had the face of an angel with a body that would shame any supermodel. Long, brown, wavy cascaded beautifully down to her waist. Light green irises flash kindly from beneath long lashes. But that's not what caught my eye—she's always looked like that. The sweet, lovely Nucaria wore a VERY stylish open-collered vanilla blouse. However, you could only see the half of it. The bottom half was covered with a black modern-day gothic corset, decorated with silver loops as the clasps. Her legs were clad in skin-tight leather pants, adorned with three-no wait, FOUR silver chains looped loosely around her waist. And to top it all off, combat boots at least three inches thick. A stark contrast to the plain black turtleneck and slightly clingy black jeans I wore. But seriously, how the HELL did she even get through the metal detector?

Just as I was about to ask this question out loud, a thought occurred. "Nuce, you do realize that JROTC isn't a one year thing, right?"

She begins organizing her homework according to the order of periods. "Hm? Yeah, sure. Now where is my purple pen..?"

I sighed, reached forward, and turned her chair towards me. I put my hands on both her shoulders. "Nucaria." More rambling about that stupid pen. "You DO realize JROTC is NOT a one year thing, RIGHT?" I gave her a little shake for emphasis.

She stopped and looked at me, brows furrowed. Then, slowly, her eyes grew wide like saucers. "Oh, God. No. Nonononono. You're kidding, right?" She fiddled with her collar a bit. "Vieze, you really shouldn't play jokes like that." Her attention went back to her homework, or at least some of it. All you could hear is little mumbles like: "This can't be happening and I have to wear a uniform AGAIN?!"

I shook my head. Nuce has always been like this: a worrywart. Straight A's. Great with teachers. The perfect role model.

Sometimes, I wish I were just like her.

A thump and a squeal have my head whipping back to her. She shrieks: "Ah! My Geometry book crushed my pencil sharpener. It was brand-new, too…" The pout on her lips is priceless.

"Really, Nuce?" I grin.

Mr. Archer's voice grew louder. "All right, kids! The countdown begins in… THREE!"

"Hey!" She hit me lightly on the arm. "This is so not funny!" Her angry face is so adorable. I can't resist. I started digging through my bag until I found just the thing. "Aha! Oh Nucariaaaa. Looky at my brand-new VIOLET pencil sharpener…!"

"TWO!"

Her eyes lit up like diamonds. She inched closer. After a few seconds of examining it, though, her face dropped. "Aww, this one's lavender. Mine was prettier; it was lilac."

"ONE! That's it, everyone! I'm closing the door!""

I opened my mouth, about to retort with something like: "At least I HAVE a pencil sharpener," but Nucaria's facial expression stops me dead. There was the oddest look on her face. She looked almost… star struck. What the hell?

I slowly turned my head around towards the door also…

I looked up and saw the most beautiful man. He had long hair that ran past his waist. He had a nice chiseled face that was framed by beautiful dark violet, red hair. His sexy, marvelous twin metropolises of hazel, blue, and green orbs looked in my direction. Time seemed to stand still as this masculine man was standing in the door. He had large broad shoulders, matched with a nice, fit, and massive torso. His legs seemed to capture me for some reason. I started thinking about the things that he could do with his leg, I shook my head and continued my analysis. His skin was the color of clean cream; his lips were slim and full. His eye lashes flattered his unique eye color. Mr. Archer took this God's paper and took it to his desk.

"Alright listen up. We have a new student to the school. Would you mind introducing yourself and then taking a seat there?" Mr. Archer pointed to the table across from Nuce and me.

"Hey uhm, my name is Ikori Amorami and I just transferred." He said.

His voice was a low rumble, like when a thunder storm begins. He walked slowly to his chair and sat with a light thud. I didn't realize how hard I was staring at him until he looked at me and gave me this look that made my heart skip a beat. One corner of his lip hooked itself to the side of his face gracefully. He smiled with only the right side of his lips, like he had a secret that I wouldn't mind finding out. I looked away and put my head back down. Mr. Archer started writing on the board.

"OMG." Nuce said in my ear, "I think he might like you, sweetie."

"Nnnng." I keep my head down. 'Did he just..? No he wouldn't..." I raise my head and shake it. I look at Nuce. "Heh, he was probably looking at you." I smiled. "You DO look sexy as hell in that outfit, after all."

Nucaria looked at me for a bit. She opened her mouth a couple of times, like she unsure of what to say. Maybe she didn't want to say what she was thinking?

It's cute when she does that, but she looks like a fish gasping for water…

I take the bait. "What's on your mind, Nucaria?" She says nothing. I move closer, my face just inches away from hers. "Nucy, what's wrong?" I ask, referring to her old childhood nickname.

"…" Nothing. No grin, no giggle. No response at all. Now I'm REALLY worried. That always works.

"Nuce, you seem a little…" I wave my hand in front of her face. "Distracted." I snap my fingers.

She jumps. "Huh? Oh… Um, what happened?" She blinked a few times and looked around, as if remembering where we were.

I sigh, get up, and walk around to the other side of our table. On the way there, I grab the small broom and dust pan in the corner of the room. I squat and sweep up the glass remains of her pencil sharpener. "You can't go around doing that at school. You know it worries me when you do that. Something big usually happens. And most of the time it's bad." I stand up. Nucaria's staring over at the back of the classroom with a weird expression. I look over, too. The new guy is leaning back in his chair, minding his own business. The chair is tilted so far back it looks as if the slightest breath of air could send him crashing. I poke her in the cheek. "Nucaria, you really shouldn't stare at people like that." I scold, all the while staring a hole through the top of his lowered head. 'What could possibly have his attention so enthralled?'

She snorts. "I could say the same for you. You're staring, too." I look away. "Only because you are. And for some strange reason, I have a feeling you're looking at him for a completely different reason…" When she ignored me and kept watching him, I sighed, dumped the clumps of glass and plastic in the wastebasket, sat back down, and waited. After ten minutes, I slammed my hand down the on table and yelled, "Enough already!"

"…." Silence. I look around. EVERYONE is staring at me now. Including HIM. He smirks at me, slowly.

Instantly, everyone in the room disappeared from my senses. There were no judgmental, snooty sophomores in the room. No blinding light from the opened windows. No Mr. Archer with a giant question mark over his head. Just the two of us, surrounded by total darkness.

This was just fine with me.

Breath, dammit, breathe! A tiny voice in the back of my mind screams. I look away from him. Suddenly I'm back with all those nuisances surrounding me again. I look at Nucaria. She's trying desperately to hold her laugh in. Just to calm myself down and get over my embarrassment, I turn to her and say stonily, with a straight face: "Yogurt."

The most shrill but cutest laugh rings through the classroom. Everyone's attention shoots to Nuce, quick as lightning. Just as I'd planned.

"Ahhhhhhaaaaahahahahahaaaa! Yo-you… Y-y-you s-said yog—haaahaaha… Y-yogur-. *snort* Haa! I h-hate you r-right now!" She gives up the fight and starts banging her hand against the table. She sounds like a hyena. I tell her that. She hits me in the arm. Hard. I tickle her as retaliation. The screams get louder, but I have no intention of stopping until I get what I want.

"Hahaha! Okay, okay! Heh, I give, I give." She wipes tears from her eyes. "You are the master. I'm sorry for hitting you so hard."

I grin. "Good. Good. That's all I wanted. Now stop staring and get to work. For once, I have more written down on my paper than YOU. Stop fuckin' up the balance, Hyena."

The storm starts up again. Goddamn, she's loud. It's a good thing she's cute. I would've sat somewhere else by now if she wasn't. I look up to see the principal standing at the door. 'Was he there the whole time? Wait, why is he glaring at ME?! He raised his hand and curled his forefinger at me, beckoning. Sighing and lowering my head, I pack up my things. As I stand, though, I suddenly feel a pressure on my back, like a beam of heat. I turn around to see HIM looking intensely at me before I walk out of the classroom.

_Why am I in trouble? I wasn't even laughing..! This is total racism._

Ikori

I was in the main office of my new school, for the sixth time this year, with my brother Sori.

"Dude, we should really pay attention to the schools they send us to," Sori whispered (or at least tried).

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"Because they're taking for fucking ever doing what they should have done yesterday," he mused.

I chuckled lowly as a bell began to ring in my ear.

"Gentlemen, here are your class schedules. Now, please go to your seventh period class," the woman behind the desk said cheerfully.

Anyone could tell she hates being here. Her facial features showed nothing but utter disgust for this place. I looked at my brother and we laughed at her as we headed off.

We walked down a long hallway full of different varieties of kids. My brother I noticed the stares we were getting from the passing set of students, mostly the girls and the guys who I presumed to be gay. Once we made it to the second floor, I noticed the door to my class beginning to close. I waved to my brother and ran to catch the door. I grabbed the door with my hand and gave the teacher my paper. He moved aside and I stepped into the room. I looked around and a beautiful face caught my attention. She has light gray eyes with specks of gold around the center. Her hair is black it was about three inches past her shoulders. Her hair has random short streaks of dark red, faded gold it is so faded it looked kind of white, and dark brown. She has white skin, but it's nowhere near pale, though. I couldn't take my eyes from her. She was strikingly beautiful and it captured me so hard I thought someone threw a rock at me. I moved to the middle of the class and stood staring at her. I handed my paper to the teacher and was going to move to the first seat I saw open when the teacher started taking and grabbed my shoulder.

"Alright listen up. We have a new student to the school. Would you mind introducing yourself and then taking a seat there?" The teacher pointed to the table across from the girl I'd been staring at.

"Hey uhm, my name is Ikori Amorami and I just transferred." I said in a low tone.

Once I finished I walked over to my new desk, sat down, and pulled out my favorite black pen and some paper. I took a glance up to see that the girl and, I presumed her friend, were still staring, along with other girls in the class.

'I wonder if my brother is having as much fun as I am.' I laughed inwardly.

She was still looking in my direction, I couldn't help but to smile, well it's more like a grin because for some odd reason I only smile with the right side of my mouth. Her eyes grew quite wide and then she put her head back down, but her friend on the other hand hadn't left her position. She then turned around to tend to her blushing friend I focused on writing the notes off the board. I wasn't learning anything new at all. I've been going over the same material for some time now, and by some time now I mean some years and not just four or five; I'm talking centuries. I looked over again and they were still conversing, I leaned back in my signature sitting stance. My sister would stare at me for hours trying to figure out how I sat but it's just natural and it feels right. The girl next the one I was staring at was stunning, but I just had to know who the other one was. I have a plan and I know exactly who to talk to about this. I was struck by something, someone in this room isn't human either or they are but have special powers they are just now awaking to. The girl I was watching got up, got the broom from the other side of the class, and swept up the remains a pencil sharpener. When she was done I noticed her friend was staring me down. I could see it in her eyes; she knew or at least is trying to figure out what her sense is trying to tell her.

So she is one of them, the Seekers, the ones who can find any creature in human-like form from a crowd of millions.

I didn't want to seem weird, so I just looked back at the board in attempt to block her out. Somehow she was way stronger than she should have been if she just awakened to her powers mere seconds ago. I looked over and she was still looking. Then came a loud outburst.

"Enough already!" The girl with the light gray eyes.

Everyone looked over to her and I just smirked because I knew her friend staring, along with everyone else, was going to cause her to just lose it. Our eyes caught one another's and we just looked into each other's eyes. I couldn't hear anything, I didn't see anything else but her and I was fine with that. She looked like she wasn't breathing at all. She starts to pull her gaze away and looked at her friend. I see her friend with a smile on her face.

"Yogurt." The girl with the gray eyes said.

Then her friend bust out into laughter.

"Ahhhhhhaaaaahahahahahaaaa! Yo-you… Y-y-you s-said yog—haaahaaha… Y-yogur-. *snort* Haa! I h-hate you r-right now!" She starts banging her hand against the table.

I smirk a little because this was quite amusing. I sensed someone coming down this hall to this class I believe. She hits the girl with gray eyes in the arm. Hard, it looked like. The girl with gray eyes tickled her as a way to retaliate, I guess. The screams get louder and I can't help, but shack the feeling that those footsteps I hear are headed here.

"Hahaha! Okay, okay! Heh, I give, I give." She wipes tears from her eyes. "You are the master. I'm sorry for hitting you so hard."

I've decided to call her Gray Eyes until I can get her name.

Gray Eyes grinned. "Good. Good. That's all I wanted. Now stop staring and get to work. For once, I have more written down on my paper than YOU. Stop fuckin' up the balance, Hyena."

Gray Eyes' friend starts laughing again. The footsteps I had heard had stopped and were in the door way watching what had just transferred. I guessed it was some one important like the principal or something. He raised his hand and curled his forefinger at her, beckoning. I saw her sigh and lower her head. She packed up her things. As she stood up, I couldn't help but watch her leave out of the class, trying to get every detail that I had missed because she was sitting down earlier. She turned around and saw me looking intensely at her. Once she left the room, I turned back to her friend. She was still watching me. She must really know by now what I am. I continued to write down the notes. I soon heard a bell ring, people began to get up and leave. I took the hint that the bell was the signal to leave the class. I walked out and saw my brother standing with a flock of girls around him.

"Hey, bro. What's up?" My brother said in his dark voice.

He is one foot taller than me. His hair is blood red and it goes below his waist. His eyes are the color of gold, his body… I'm not going into detail about so… yeah.

"I got a favor to ask. You see that girl with a body of a goddess. With long, brown, wavy hair down to her waist with light green irises that are shaded by long lashes. With a black gothic corset, with skin-tight leather pants." I said painting a perfect picture.

"Yea, what about her?" He asked.

"I want to know who her friend's name is in that Chemistry class." I pointed.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do. I'll get back to you when we get home." He smiled as he pushed pass the group of swooning girls.

I walked down the hallway and down a flight of stairs. I was walking past the main office when I caught sight of that beautiful hair. A teacher was in her face scolding her. I walked in and steeped in between them.

"Hey, is there something wrong? She didn't do anything wrong, she was… just trying to help me out. I'm new and everyone was staring. Now, she has a class to go to." I said as I grabbed her arm and walked out of the office.

"Thank you?" She uttered slowly.

"Don't worry about." I began as I started to walk away. "It's cool. I'll see you around. Bye." I smiled and walked faster to get to my next class.

Vieze

I ran towards the library at lightning speed, or at least it felt like it. My lungs were on fire. I could feel the final bell of the day coming. I hope I'm not too late!

The glass wall came into view. The bell rang, loud and clear. I could see people filing out through the exit door to the far right of the room. I knew then that I was too late. The only time that happened was when the center doors are locked. Just my luck.

I pressed my face up against the warm glass and peered in. A bunch of students passed by, but their faces were too far away to discern anyone in particular. I tried the jiggling the knob anyway. Nope. I turned around and leaned up against the wall, careful not to put too much pressure on it. It may be reinforced, but you never know, right?

My eyes closed as I tipped my head back. The sound of laughter from behind passed through my ears, taking me back a few years… More like ten when I think about it. A lot of thoughts had been popping up lately. Memories, actually. The fear slowly wrapped its claws around my heart, driving me into a panic. I tried moving my hands to my throat, but it seemed I can't move my arms. My whole body froze and locked up. The air gradually slowed during its journey through my lungs. The air seemed thick, completely solidified. I gave up the fight. I reigned myself to just wait out the battle. What more could I do?

_Breathe, Vieze. Don't let the fear take over. You'll be lost. You won't find your back so easily._ I tried talking to my body, saying it would be alright. I could feel my body's temperature dropping. I tried listening to my heartbeat, counting the rhythm. I don't know how long I stayed that way, but sometime later I felt a cool hand press up against my forehead. All I could really do at this point was open my eyes. I figured it was Nuce ready to yell at me for missing book club already. To avoid problems, the students sign up for clubs over the summer online. "I am so sorry. I tried to make it in time, I really did. But Principal Dillweed caught me again in the hallway after eight period. I swear, I thought he'd never stop talking. 'Respect this' and 'Discipline that'. I slowly opened my eyes. "I mean really, it WAS your fault in the first plac-." I stopped dead.

The new student from earlier stood in front of me, arm outstretched. His rough, cool hand lowered to my cheek. I stared at him. I couldn't believe it. He was holding a pair of silver and blue shorts in his other hand; the colors of our school. I could smell fresh, clean sweat off of him. Down the hall and to my right, I hear a whistle. A football sailed through the air. "Go long, Ein!" someone yelled. I brought my attention back to Him.

"Um. What are you..?" I trailed off. He was just staring at me, his thumb slowly brushing back and forth across my cheek. He had this intense look in his eyes.

I opened my mouth, prepared to finish my question this time. He beat me to the punch, however. "What has you so upset?" He took a step closer. "Are you in pain?"

I found the strength to shake my head a bit. "N-no, I'm fine. Just… just feeling a little under the weather." I attempted a small smile, just to reassure him. "You don't have to worry about me. Really."

It didn't look like I pulled it off… He leaned in close, his eyes zooming in on my expression. He raised one eyebrow. His thumb stopped moving. "Hmm. If you're not okay, then say so." He removed his hand from my skin. Without it, without his touch, I could feel the tension return. I closed my eyes again. I could feel him still standing there. We may have lost contact, but he hadn't stepped back. Even though we weren't touching, I felt almost completely overwhelmed. I could feel his breath up against my face. _So close…_

He took a step back, to my disappointment. "I'd like to get to know you." He paused and touched my cheek again, cupping it this time. "But in order for that to work, I need you to always tell me the truth."

I opened my eyes and stared down at my scuffed sneakers. I didn't know what to say to that. I waited for him to continue. His hand lowered to my chin, tilting it up. "Are we understood, Gray Eyes?" He smiled a bit.

I just stared at him. It took me a while before I answered. "I... I understand. But why are you so... intense on the subject of... us?" I thought for a moment. "No, wait never mind. Don't answer that. I don't wanna know." I chanced a quick glance up. He was looking right into my eyes; like he was looking for something, searching for... I don't know. Something urgent.

He shook his head. "You just wait and see." My worry at that must've shown in my face, for he continued. "Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you." He looked around. "Well, I guess I should get going. That is, unless you'd be okay with me escorting you."

I stammered. "I-I no. That won't be necessary." Just who was this guy? Nobody escorted people around anymore. _What, was this guy from the eighteenth century or something? _"I'll be fine. Not now, but soon."

He shrugged.

I pushed myself up from the glass and half turned away. I couldn't concentrate with him so close. "But, thanks for your concern-" Bump


End file.
